The Spanish notary facilitates the Power of Attorney, Title Deeds (Purchase Deeds) and Spanish will during the purchase. For legality, debts, registration or tax payment he is NOT responsible. This in Spain is the responsibility of the lawyer/solicitor who has the right knowledge to avoid or solve legal, administrative or fiscal problems when buying a house or apartment in Spain.
In Spain the notary is an employee of the state. Besides guaranteeing the identification of all people concerned, he does make a reservation for the completion at the Land Registry. This is to prevent that someone could sell the property twice in one day but in different notaries. The lawyer of the buyer usually picks the notary. People can be represented during the sale/purchase by a Power of Attorney signed in front of a notary.
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Types of notary Deeds
- Title Deeds (also called Purchase Deeds / Sales Deeds)
- Mortgage Deeds (for this the bank needs to be represented)
- New Build Declaration (Declaracion de Obra Nueva, often with Declaration of Antiquity architect)
- Inheritance Deeds (also to be signed of you are an official heir but don´t accept the Spanish inheritance)
- Extencion de Condominio (f.e. when you are married in separation of goods and get divorced)
- Extencion de Dominio (f.e. if you got married in community of goods and you want your partner to own half)
- Exceso de Cabida (correcting to bigger plot size)
- Reducion de Cabida (correcting to smaller plot size)
- Rectifications (for making corrections in earlier deeds)
- Power of Attorney (poder)
Only the Power of Attorney itself and your Spanish will you need to sign yourselves. The Spanish will you normally sign after the after-sales works of your house purchase. Your lawyer can provide you with fiscal and legal advice about inheritance tax.
The Title Deeds (Purchase Deeds)
You can also get the owner of a house or piece of land by a Private Purchase Contract with full payment. Sometimes this is done if for legal reasons it´s not possible to inscribe the property. However, if it´s not inscribed, in theory you could still end up in court if someone questions the ownership.
So the lawyer prepares all documentation and takes responsibility for the content of the Title Deeds. These deeds are a document of often more than 30 pages. The version without signatures goes by the name Copia Simple.
Registration of Title Deeds
After signing the deeds the lawyer presents the deeds to the:
- Oficina de Liquidadora (with proof of bank payment of the taxes through model 600)
- Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad)
- Patronato de Recaudacion (for the name change of the IBI council tax and Basura plus the request for the Plusvalia tax of the seller)
- Cadastre (Catastro)
Power of Attorney
In Spain it´s common to give Power of Attorney to your lawyer for your purchase. This always needs to happen in front of a notary (in Spain or your own country). If you give a general Power of Attorney it can be valid for example the following tasks.
- Buying and selling through private documents or public deeds
- Representation to authorities like Cadastre, Registry, Tax Office or Town Hall
- Opening & closing Spanish bank account (for service contracts)
- Applying for a mortgage
- Application of NIE documents (fiscal number) at the Police
- CIF number (companies) applying at Tax Office
- Transferring service contracts
- Special issues like inheritance procedures, setting up companies of representation in court
You can also give Power of Attorney to another person that you trust. Just keep in mind that the lawyer might need the PoA anyway for specific tasks during the legal investigation. Make sure that the document is translated or at least explained well.
Always ask what the ending time is and think about whether you want to keep it open or not. This may f.e. be useful if you need to sell again in a few years. Aren´t you happy anymore about your legal representation? Then have the Power of Attorney canceled by this notary. He then will inform this person that it’s withdrawn.
Referrals & references real estate agent & lawyer:
Need a referral for a good estate agent in Andalusia? Or like to receive an example offer for the legal investigation of a specialized and independent lawyer? Find out more through the link above.
©2023, Ariane van Wijk